Chesstown King's Reviews and Thoughts

  4) All I Have (84)- Amerie’s first album isn’t bad but its clear she hadn’t really developed her signature sound yet. I’ll admit I’ve probably listened to this one the least. The first song, “ Why Don’t We Fall in Love” is amazing. Then there’s “ Talkin’ to Me” which is really good too. “I Just Died” is really emotional too. There are some highs here but a lot of mid songs tho….Overall its a good project. 3) Touch (93)-I really like this album. It has Amerie’s huge hit “1 Thing” on it. “All I Need” is a sultry song too. Then there’s her bad girl sound on the “Touch” song. That Lil Jon beat is fire! “Not the Only One” is another highlight as Amerie confronts her lover and says she’s cheating too. You can hear the go-go uptempo sound again on “Talkin’ About”. The production as a whole is just better here than on her debut. “Rolling Down My Face” is another strong deep cut. 2) Because I Love It (96)-This was the album that really made me a fan of Amerie. It’s really stacked. “H...

 This is a very highly anticipated album and man does it live up to the hype. It's a double album while the first disc has Cole returning to his hometown the Ville after dropping 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The 2nd disc is him 10 years after that and his newer viewpoints. The album starts with "Two Six" which is a banger. Cole displays a lot of clever flows here. "Safety" is rapped from the perspective of one of J. Cole's friend's from the Ville. It might be somewhat controversial as Cole describes someone who is obviously gay and he almost calls him the f word. I will get into more songs ....but honestly this album is so dope I'm thinking of doing a track by track review of this album. I haven't done a T-b-T review in a long time! "Run a Train" features an interesting Future feature on the hook.....it grew on me. Basically this album is very experimental as Cole sings in different ways on some tracks and for the most part it works....Rapp...

 I haven't reviewed a DMX album in a minute. This is a really dope album too. late 90s DMX was unstoppable commercially and its easy to see why. The singles here are amazing. "Party Up" is an all time favorite of mine. On "What's My Name" you really feel DMX's rough nature. I like how he slows it down for the ladies with Sisqo on "What These Bitches Want". "One More Road To Cross" is a good opener. This is a very well produced album. I liked most every song too. I haven't reviewed DMX's first 2 albums yet but this one might be the best one. Lyrics 22 Beats 23 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 92

 Another review that I meant to do earlier. This was Usher's album that came out with his Super Bowl performance. The album gets off to a good start with the title track and single "Good Good". Both Summer Walker and 21 Savage do very well on that track. "A-Town Girl" featuring Latto really works well too. Overall the album is pretty well rounded. I did feel it had one or too many tracks that didn't stand out in the latter half of the album. The song "BIG" is kinda comical as Usher sings he always gets the big combo at fast food places. Overall though its a solid album from Usher. The production is good. Unfortunately there just aren't really any amazing songs like Usher usually has on his albums. Lyrics 22 Beats 22 Depth 21 Tilt 22 Verdict 87

Honorable Mentions: Titan Fall 2, DBZ Kakarot, Star Wars Battlefront II, Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection. 15) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga-This has proven to be a really fun Lego Star Wars game. It has some great missions from all 9 mainline Star Wars movies. I love the voice acting actually which isn’t what you’d expect from a Lego game. The game is just a ton of fun. You can play as almost any star wars character you can think of…. 14) Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection- I’m no stranger to fighting games. I had Street Fighter V also but this collection I poured way more hours into. It’s got Street Fighter 1, many versions of 2, Alpha, and 3. It has the ability to save your progress in any point of any fight…which I gotta tell you was a real life saver! This is definitely a must have for any Street Fighter fan. 13) NBA 2k23-This is the 2k I probably played the most in recent years due to not getting a new NBA 2k till I got a ps5 (2k26). This is a great game. There’s th...

I meant to review this album a long time ago. At this point i'm convinced Alessia is one of music's most underrated artists ever. The first song "Box in the Ocean" is really smooth."Lie to Me" was a great up tempo song.  On "Shapeshifter" she tackles a  lover that constantly switches things up in a negative way. "Drama Queen" is another highlight. I liked the simple execution on "Find My Boy". I found myself liking most of these songs. Alessia's singing is really good. The production is solid too.....but maybe not better than on her debut.  Ultimately I'd say this is her 2nd best album...and yes Ive heard the 4th album. I have yet to review that one.  Lyrics 22 Beats 22 Depth 24 Tilt 23 Verdict 91